Having tried my hand at organic gardening last year with mixed results, I decided to do a little research this time around and I’m finding that when it comes to gardening, a little bit of planning goes a long way.
Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. –Unknown
Nothing is more frustrating then to see all your hard work, effort, time and money go down the drain when your garden doesn’t produce the way you planned.
What I failed to realize before is that successful gardening a very complicated process. Certain plants compliment others while some will actually cause others to fail to pollinate and so on. I also had no idea that plants needed to be properly spaced according to their particular needs. So I literally just went to the store, bought a bunch of plants and stuck them in the ground in a way that I thought looked nice.
I probably don’t need to elaborate on the fact that it didn’t turn out so well. While the majority of the plants grew to fruition (mostly because they had way too much space which left my garden space severely under utilized). That also led to lots of extra veggies that never got eaten. And not the kind you want extras of mind you, the squash were plentiful but the beans, tomatoes and berries not so much. There are only so many squash casseroles one can make in a few months before you start to lose the taste for it.
If you’re planning a garden this year especially if you’re new at it please learn from my mistakes and read up on companion planting and permaculture before starting your plot this year. We’re late enough into the spring where most have already started many of their seedlings indoors. But if you take some time to do a little bit of research before moving your seedlings into their permanent garden home, you will see the payoff at harvest time with healthy bounty of fruits and vegetables.
Here are some of my favorite books on companion planting and permaculture for organic and traditional gardens alike.
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening
The A – Z of Companion Planting
Gaia’s Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture
Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden
Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual
Also be sure to check out this great video on Gardening for the Survivalist.
***This article was contributed by Chrystle Poss a.k.a. “Survival Girl”, a Survival Spot Blog Guest Author and devoted Survivalist. She has been writing articles on survival and emergency preparedness since 2006. You can find her work on various websites and publications.***
There are lots of online articles about companion planting. Read those before buying a book.